John Waite, with nearly five decades of recorded music to his credit, will perform hits and more Friday at Mauch Chunk Opera House, located on West Broadway, Jim Thorpe.

The singer-songwriter - born in Lancaster, England, and currently residing in Santa Monica, California - traces his musical journey back to his youth.

“My roots are in authentic songwriters,“ he said. “Before the Beatles, I listened to Celtic music, folk, country, Western and blues. That was my religion. I didn’t really get influenced by pop music, even though I was surrounded by it.”

Waite, whose favorite acts as a child included Marty Robbins and Brenda Lee, comes from a musical family. His mother and brother played piano and guitar, respectively, while his cousin played banjo. “I stepped into it. It was the most natural thing in the world.”

From 1975 to 1981, Waite fronted British rock band The Babys, recording albums such as “Broken Heart” and “Head First.” The group’s hit singles include “Isn’t it Time,” “Every Time I Think of You,” “Back on My Feet Again” and “Midnight Rendezvous.”

Waite, who arranged a lot of the band’s music and played bass on the first few albums, was writing songs that were “a bit more personal than mainstream rock. Being the singer, they fall in behind you. It was a strange mixture of people, but it was a strong four-piece band.”

The Babys disbanded shortly after a fan pulled Waite offstage during a performance in December 1980, one day after John Lennon’s assassination.

“It was a coincidence that I got injured on stage,“ said Waite, who suffered a knee injury. “It closed the tour down about five days out. Other guys wanted to keep going. It just fizzled out. My identity there was just too strong for them to replace with anybody else.”

After The Babys disbanded, Waite eventually moved to New York City to make his first solo album, 1982’s “Ignition.” Neil Giraldo, Pat Benatar’s husband and musical partner, produced the set, which featured the single “Change.”

Waite’s sophomore solo album, 1984’s “No Brakes,” spawned the Billboard No. 1 single “Missing You.” The song, which Tina Turner covered in 1996, was an amalgam of three women in Waite’s life, including his then-wife. Other “No Brakes” singles included “Tears” and “Restless Heart.”

After the success of “No Brakes,” Waite “didn’t want to make another ‘Missing You.’ After that, I got more going on. I made a record I was happy to make, tour heavily, go around the world. I’d finally arrived. I was able to call the shots a bit more.

“Once you get on that merry-go-round, you can’t get off,” continued Waite, whose “Missing You” duet with Alison Krauss hit the top 40 at country radio in 2007. “My nature is, I need to do what I do, tour heavily, but I also want to go home at night.”

Like he did on “No Brakes,” Waite co-produced his next two albums, 1985’s “Mask of Smiles” and 1987’s “Rover’s Return.” When an A&R guy didn’t like the songs he was doing thereafter, Waite was inspired to start a band.

Supergroup Bad English featured frontman Waite, former Babys bandmates Jonathan Cain and Ricky Phillips, Journey founder Neal Schon and future Journey member Deen Castronovo. The rock group’s 1989 eponymous debut featured hits such as “When I See You Smile,” a Diane Warren-penned smash, and “Best of What I Got.”

With the band, “there was a tremendous amount of pressure to come up with something that could be categorized,” Waite said. “I don’t like formula. I prefer doing the odd acoustic song, something bluesy, more singer-songwriter. We managed it on the first one. By the time we got to the second, lines were drawn. Everybody just wanted to move on.”

Bad English released its second and final album, “Backlash,” in 1991. Waite returned in 1995 with his first solo set in eight years, “Temple Bar,” which featured the single “How Did I Get By Without You?”

In the years following his 10th studio effort, 2011’s “Rough & Tumble,” Waite has released albums such as “Live: All Access,” “Best,” “Wooden Heart: Acoustic Anthology” volumes and “Singles.” In early May, Waite issued “Anything,” a five-track EP.

“Anything,” issued on Waite’s No Brakes Records label, includes a cover of Bob Dylan’s “Masters of War.” Waite performed the latter, “Missing You” and “Bluebird Café,” a track off 1997’s “When You Were Mine,” during a March telethon to aid refugees in Ukraine.

Looking to future projects, Waite - who’s recorded all his recent full-band shows - plans to release another live album. On Dec. 6, Gravitas Ventures’ “John Waite: The Hard Way” will hit streaming services, with a home-video release also set.